Pickled Green Tomatoes

Yield: 1 quart

Who doesn’t love pickles? The sky’s the limit for what you can pickle ~ pickling is not just for cucumbers! And you don’t need to spend an entire day in the kitchen canning to enjoy farm-fresh homemade pickles. The recipe I’m sharing with you today takes all of 10 minutes!

The best approach for pickling is to select vegetables at the market when they’re at the peak of freshness. You may not even have pickling in mind, but the produce you spot should ‘beg’ to be pickled! Recently, we found two exceptionally crispy heirloom green tomatoes in the produce section; hence, pickled green tomatoes were in the making.

Ingredients:

2 large, extra crispy green heirloom tomatoes
2 cups vinegar
1 cup spring water
2 teaspoons finely ground sea salt
1 tablespoon Merchant Spice Co.’s Spicy Pickling Blend (or Sweet Pickling Blend or Savory Pickling Blend)

To make your own pickling blend, choose some of your favorite pickle flavors and put them together in your own custom blend. Here’s a suggestion for an excellent combination, especially if you like garlic & dill pickles.

1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon dried, minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon dried yellow mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon dried ginger, cut & sifted (or 2 large strips of fresh ginger)
2 dried bird’s eye chiles

Preparation:

Prepare the tomatoes by removing the stem and then cutting them into either quarters or sixths or eighths, depending upon the size of the tomatoes and the width of the opening of your canning jar. Pack the tomatoes tightly into your canning jar, which should be sterilized (noting that the lid and ring should also be sterilized in preparation for canning).

Add the salt and spices over the top of the tomatoes in your canning jar.

In the meantime, bring the vinegar and water to a boil in a pot over high heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, pour it carefully into your canning jar, to within ½ inch of the top of the jar. Immediately place the lid onto the jar and then gently tighten the ring over the top.

Set the jar aside at room temperature until it seals, typically no more than an hour or two. You’ll hear the characteristic ‘pop’ of the lid sealing, which is always a great pleasure!

You can enjoy your pickles within a week or so, however, they are best if left to pickle for two weeks.

Pickled green tomatoes make a lovely accompaniment to all manner of sandwiches, especially nice on the side with roast beef or smoked turkey sandwiches.

Enjoy!

NOTE: If your can does not seal, just put the jar in the refrigerator until they’re ready to open. No worries! The pickled green tomatoes will store indefinitely in the refrigerator, but they surely will not last that long!